Hilda - Lycadea Read Online Free PDF Page A

will you two be back for dinner?"
the man he had called Xander asked. The captain looked
questioningly at the witch.
    "We'll drop them off in time," she said.
"Just make sure you don't start cooking too early." She sent a
signal to William through their link. "Hang on folks," she then
said to their passengers, and the two brooms took off, into the
clear blue sky.

5. Kings, queens and
dinner parties

    "Are you really sure this is safe?" Maurizio
asked as the brooms picked up speed.
    "We got to your ship on them, without a
problem," William said, "I am sure this is safe."
    "Oh." Maurizio did not sound convinced.
    Rebel instead seemed to enjoy the experience.
So much even that Hilda had to drag her back; at times the woman in
leather and copper was leaning over so far that she would fall at
the slightest tremble of the broom.
    As they flew over the forests that surrounded
the castle, Rebel screamed for joy when she saw their goal. She
waved at Maurizio and pointed. The captain was not certain if he
should watch. His trust in the broom was below level, so he just
nodded and kept holding on to the broomstick. He had already learnt
(and bore the red scratch to prove it) that he should not grab it
too close to the black cat that lay there as if it was the most
normal spot in the world. Which in this world it was.
    "Do they know we're coming?" Maurizio
asked.
    "Soon enough," said William. It was not the
answer the redcoat captain had expected but it proved true enough.
Once the brooms with their passengers slowly crossed the moat and
the castle walls, several servants started running. "See? Now they
know."
    "Now, when we land I do not want you to jump
from the brooms," Hilda warned them. "Step off when we tell you
it's time to do that. We have plenty of time."
    The brooms reached the ground. Obsi and Grim
elegantly hopped from their sleeping places and then the passengers
were offloaded. A servant already came running, informing them that
the king and queen were looking forward to see them.
    "Very good. You keep an eye on our brooms,
please, and we'll be off to the majesties." Hilda gave the man her
broom. William supplied him with another one. Rebel and Maurizio
supplied the magicals with quizzical looks as Hilda asked him where
they could find the king. Then the two people from the Mimosa were
escorted into the castle.
    Hilda and William knew their way around the
place, so soon they had found the large spacious balcony at the
back of the castle, where the king and queen were sitting, enjoying
tea and cake. Chocolate cake.
    "Ohhh!" said Hilda as she spied it.
    "Ah, there they are," said King Walt, "and
they brought them along already. How thoughtful"
    "How do you know it's them?" Queen Velda
asked. "Perhaps they met some others and brought them along,
instead of them."
    "Oh, it's them al right," Hilda pitched
in.
    "No, you stay," said William as Maurizio and
Rebel slowly tried to back out of the balcony, to the safety of the
room they had come in through. "You wanted to see them, and there
they are."
    "So, who are they?" asked the king from his
lounge bed, picking up a gilded bowl of grapes. The queen was on
her own chaise longue, a low table with a tray of truffles next to
it.
    Hilda waved the Mimosians to come closer.
"These are captain Doctor Maurizio Blunt and Donna Rebel Abrahams.
Maurizio and Rebel, these are King Walt and Queen Velma."
    "Doctor who?" The king sat up and wiped his
fingers on a silk napkin that hung from a pocket in his carmine
cloak. Obsidian Shadow jumped on the royal couch and sniffed the
grapes. With an insulted sound he jumped down again.
    "No, not him," Maurizio said with a smile,
making Hilda frown. "Blunt. Doctor Maurizio Blunt. It is a great
pleasure to meet you, your majesty." He bowed to the king. Then he
turned to the queen, who held out a hand to him. Maurizio took the
hand, pushed the eye patch up and studied the gems in her rings
with care. "Sono onorato, signora queen. I am honoured," he